“A Critical Tool”:
Using People Who Lie for a Living

Apr 28, 2003

The first trial of so-called "terrorists" is taking shape in federal court in Detroit, Michigan. It is marked by government prosecutors using tactics most suited to getting a guilty verdict regardless of the evidence. For there is no credible evidence against the four Arab immigrants on trial. The evidence consists of a childlike drawing of airplanes by a man known to be mentally ill, who in fact committed suicide at age 21, six months before 9/11, a man who the defendant didn’t know. He lived in the defendants’ apartment before they ever moved in.

To connect the defendants to terrorism, the feds are relying on the testimony of a scam artist–that is, a man who lied to make a living. And while the four men on trial are legal immigrants, the fed’s witness, Youseff Hmimssa, is illegal.

The feds have promised Hmimssa a deal for his testimony–less than four years in jail to settle felony charges in Michigan, Illinois and Iowa, as well as leniency on his illegal status. What a set-up! This was the sort of prosecution conduct that led Illinois to stop enforcing the death penalty.

The trial judge has already twice spoken out against government misconduct in the case. The nation’s top justice official, Attorney General Ashcroft, violated the judge’s gag order and made a public comment praising Hmimssa. And the government lawyers sprang a photograph in court without first telling the judge and without disclosing it to the defense as required. Photographs can be easily doctored, as every Internet user knows, having seen, for example, the widely circulated picture of Saddam Hussein and George Bush roughhousing together. If the trial photo had been genuine, the government would not have a problem letting the defense examine it, as they have a right to do.

With all the FBI’s resources investigating terrorism day and night–this doctored evidence is all they have to show.

When Attorney General Ashcroft praised Hmimssa, he said, "Such cooperation is a critical tool in our war against terrorism." Exactly–the co-operation of a con-man!